Kuala Lumpur: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) won their sixth domestic league title with four rounds of matches to spare, but elsewhere in the ASEAN region the race for the national championships remain in full swing.
With recent international and continental ties concluded, the focus returns to domestic action in the Southeast Asian region.
There was plenty of action as the hunt to be champions heats up, while there were familiar faces lifting the trophy in Malaysia.
Malaysia
A 2-1 win away at Melaka United last Wednesday saw JDT secure the Malaysia Super League title, their sixth consecutively, after they extended their lead over second-placed Pahang FA to an unreachable 16 points.
With four rounds of games still to go, the club from Johor Bahru completed an impressive few months after they shone on their maiden AFC Champions League campaign.
Pahang lost 5-2 away at Selangor a day earlier and are now in danger of losing their grip on the runners-up spot with last Tuesday's opponents (fourth), Kedah (third) and Perak (fifth) all within three points.
DOUBLE HAT-TRICK
SIX CONSECUTIVE MALAYSIA SUPER LEAGUE TITLES - 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 AND NOW 2019! pic.twitter.com/8DS1O8G9Zl
— JOHORSouthernTigers (@OfficialJohor) June 26, 2019
Thailand
In the Thailand Premier League, Bangkok United cut down Buriram United's lead at the top to two points after the front-runners lost 1-0 to Chonburi on Sunday.
Samut Prakan City in third and fourth-placed Chiangrai United also made ground after the leaders' slip, with a point from a trip to Chiangmai and win away at Port FC respectively.
Heavyweights Muangthong United have been surprise strugglers this season but finally moved out of the relegation zone following a 2-1 win away at Prachuap.
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2019.07.01 "Brazilianconnection" Cion and Lukian "One goal One assist" Chonburi fc 1 Buriram united0 _______________________________ #ChonburiFC2019 #BraveSharks #ฉลามกล้า_ท้าชิง
Vietnam
The Round of 16 of the Vietnamese National Football Cup was the focus of domestic action in Vietnam.
While powerhouses such as ASEAN Zonal Finalists Hanoi FC and Becamex Binh Duong progressed to the quarter-finals, there was a shock in store for Song Lam Nghe An who were defeated by relegation strugglers Quang Nam.
Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, Nam Dinh, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Saigon make up the rest of the last eight line-up.
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Ngày trở về Hàng Đẫy rất khó khăn của các cầu thủ HL Hà Tĩnh (trước là Hà Nội B) #hanoifc #hnfc #hanoifootballclub #honglinhhatinhfc
Indonesia
Bali United lead the way in the early stages of Indonesia's Liga 1, with the islanders having won five of their six opening ties.
Four points behind the frontrunners, TIRA-Persikabo are in second place following their 2-1 win over Arema FC on Saturday, while Bhayangkara defeated heavweights Persib Bandung by the same scoreline to move into third.
Defending champions Persija Jakarta remain without a win and in the relegation zone, but they could move out of danger with a win at home to PSS Sleman on Wednesday.
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Haturnuhun Malang. Tetap membumi Laskar Padjadjaran ! Ngopi Liong heula meh cenghar ! - #tirapersikabo #laskarpadjajaran #bogor #ShopeeLiga1 #KitaBersaudara
Cambodia
In the weekend's battle between first and second in Cambodia neither Svay Rieng nor Naga World FC could be separated following a goalless draw.
Angkor Tiger in third were able to make some ground on the top two with a 3-1 win over EDC on Saturday. The most eye-catching scoreline was, though, the 17-2 win for Phnom Penh Crown over bottom side Kompong Cham.
It has been a particularly difficult campaign for the league debutants with several double digit defeats already this season.
Myanmar
Yangon United and Shan United maintained their hold on first and second place in the Myanmar National League with wins over Hantharwady United and Sagaing United respectively.
Fourth-placed Ayeyawady United made a statement win over the team in sixth, Yadanarbon, with a comprehensive 5-2 victory that sees them remain in the hunt.
Magwe and Chinland remain in the two relegation places, although the former did manage a 1-1 draw against Rakhine United.
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ပဲြၿပီးဆံုးခ်ိ္န္တြင္ ရန္ကုန္ ယူႏုိက္တက္ အသင္းက ဟံသာဝတီ ယူႏိုက္တက္ အသင္းကို ၁-၀ ဂိုးျဖင့္ အႏိုင္ရရွိခဲ့သည္။ Yangon United won 1-0 over Hantharwady United.
Singapore
DPMM Brunei's 2-1 win over Balestier Khalsa on Friday sees them keep their place at the summit of the Singapore Premier League.
Second placed Albirex Niigata Singapore are just three points behind after a slim 1-0 win over Warriors on Sunday, while Hougang United in third are a further five points back after their 2-0 away win at Home United.
Philippines
Ceres Negros rebounded from their disappointing defeat in the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals last Tuesday to defeat Mendiola 4-0 to remain in third in the Philippines Football League.
Kaya FC stayed first after a convincing 5-0 win over Philippine Air Force FC, with Stallion Laguna FC in second after a 5-1 defeat of Global FC.
#FULLTIME | Another 3 points in the bag for the busmen! @CeresNegrosFC 4-0 Mendiola FC 1991!#OnePassionOneLeague #PFL2019 #SupportPinoyFutbol pic.twitter.com/826ww6x6g8
— Philippines Football League (@WeArePFL) June 29, 2019
Laos
Young Elephant's 2-0 win over Lao Army sees them stay three points ahead of Lao Toyota at the top of the standings.
The second placed side do have a game in hand, however, and all eyes will be on what is effectively a six-pointer on July 10 when the top two sides face each other.
Timor-Leste
Ponta Leste became new league leaders in the Timor-Leste championship after defeating Assalam 2-1 on Saturday.
Boavista Timor, who had been the early frontrunners, were unable to reclaim their spot at the top after a surprise 3-2 defeat away at sixth placed side Ultramar.
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Source: the-afc.com